


Astraphobia

by cathrheas



Series: Commissions [33]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hotel Sex, Post-Game technically, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:40:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29005440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathrheas/pseuds/cathrheas
Summary: Byleth and Bernadetta get caught in a storm. Bernadetta has a strange solution to her anxiety.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Bernadetta von Varley
Series: Commissions [33]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753813
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Astraphobia

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for Sean, the main man :D had some fun working with this one since the prompt was pretty roomy! hope y'all enjoy!

“Hah...that doesn’t look good.”

Byleth was used to Bernadetta’s somewhat paranoid ramblings, but this time, it might have been a little more than paranoia. He followed her gaze to the sky; he had noticed that the sun had been dipping in and out of the clouds throughout the day, but it seemed like it hadn’t come out in quite a while, becoming hidden by some thicker, more ominous clouds. 

“Looks like a storm,” Byleth sighed. “Well, at least we’re close to home. We won’t have to be in it for long.”

Bernadetta gasped so sharply it was a wonder her lungs didn’t burst. “We’ll get caught in it?”

“Just a little. If those clouds are telling us anything, we’re gonna be soaked when we get back to Garreg Mach, but we’re really not that far out.”

The excursion was already pretty simple, simple (and safe) enough that Byleth didn’t mind bringing Bernadetta along. Byleth didn’t like travelling with hordes of knights to guard him, especially when he was making a diplomatic visit—it felt overly dramatic and might have even offended the people he was visiting. So, he made the voyage to Aegir territory with only Bernadetta in tow. It was a pretty quick trip, too, especially by horse.

It looked like the length of the trip or the safety wasn’t really Bernadetta’s issue, though. “We might be able to find some cover under one of the tarps that we have,” Byleth tried. Bernadetta was hard to soothe, he realized, but that had never stopped him from trying. Oftentimes, he had to guess at what the problem was, or what the best solution would be, but it usually worked out fine. When Bernadetta whined into his back, he tried again. “I’m sure I have a hooded coat back there somewhere, too.”

“No, I’m fine—”

Bernadetta trailed off, and Byleth pulled on the reins so that their mount slowed to a stop. He turned, and as he did, he felt her hands gripping his waist so hard that it might have hurt, had she been a little stronger. Byleth looked at the sky again, and saw lightning flashing from a distance. Then, he heard a rumble, sounding equally as far...still, the storm was likely headed their way, and—

Ah.  _ That _ was the problem.

“Bernadetta?”

She made a squeak, like a mouse caught in a trap. “Y-yes?”

“You’re afraid of storms, aren’t you?”

Byleth was afraid he’d sounded too accusatory, but Bernadetta just nodded into his shoulder, looking sheepish. “I don’t mind the rain, but...the loud sounds really scare me. S-sometimes, when I was younger, my father would leave me all alone by a window, tied up, just so I could s-sit there and be nervous and suffer. I was scared of them before then, too, though...am I talking too much? I’m probably talking too much.”

Byleth had tried to get Bernadetta out of the habit of talking herself down so much, and he’d been partially successful thus far, but it was probably harder for her to stabilize herself when she was so worked up. Byleth picked up the slack, turning around to watch her face. She had gone pale as a sheet, her eyes wet with incoming tears. “It’s alright, Bernadetta. If you want, we can go to an inn.”

“No, I don’t...I don’t want to be any more of a burden than I already have been. Let’s just go home,” Bernadetta said.

That was hard to respond to. Byleth knew that Bernadetta didn’t like storms, but he also knew that she felt guilty whenever he tried to help her too much, since he had been the one who pushed her to be more independent. Byleth was often torn between trying to let her get stronger on her own and allowing her to lean on him. But, then again, was it so bad if she relied on him every now and then...?

“If it gets too bad, let me know, and we’ll stop somewhere,” Byleth said. 

Bernadetta nodded and held him tighter, just as the first few drops started to fall from the sky. Byleth heard her rustling, and saw her pulling his hooded jacket out of the sack that the horse was carrying. Soon enough, the rain had grown so thick that that hardly sufficed as cover. Byleth didn’t mind getting wet; he was more concerned about Bernadetta. The storm was really rolling in, then, lightning appearing bright and flashy against the dark background of the sky, followed by a crackling boom. 

The petite hands on Byleth’s sides gripped every time they saw lightning, then tightened even more when the thunder hit, before finally going slack until the next wave came. The steed beneath them was growing nervous, too, its step growing more hesitant as the thunder shook the ground. Byleth was still less worried about the horse than he was about Bernadetta. Even over the sound of the storm, he could hear her whimpers, almost pained in their pitch.

“Bernadetta,” he called, spluttering as rainwater dripped into his mouth.

Bernadetta replied, “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine!”

Byleth sighed to himself, tightening his grip on the reins and leading the horse towards the nearest town. Pulling out a map right then would have been troublesome with all of the rain, so he was glad he knew the way. Besides, he didn’t want Bernadetta to have an idea of what he was doing, since she would surely protest. 

The storm grew louder, as if they were riding right into it. Byleth couldn’t tell the difference between the rumbles from the storm and the vibrations of Bernadetta whimpering into his back. Through the sheets of rain, Byleth could see them growing closer to the village that he’d had his mind set on. It was hard to find the way, with so few lanterns and torches lit, but Byleth eventually found his way to the inn’s stable, riding the horse to be under its hood.

When the rain stopped pouring down on them, Byleth felt Bernadetta’s head lift. She looked around, squinting to see through the storm. “Wait...this isn’t the monastery, Professor...are we lost? Oh, gosh. It’s my fault we’re lost. I kept talking, and you got distracted, and—”

“We’re not lost, Bernadetta. We’re spending the night at an inn,” Byleth said. 

“What?! Why?! It’s because of me, isn’t it?”

The guilt in her voice made Byleth’s heart ache. Swiftly, he said, “It’s not. The mount was getting nervous, that’s all. I didn’t want us to get thrown off.” Bernadetta must have detected his excuse, and seemed like she was going to call him out on it, but a flash of lightning rendered her speechless again. He took the opportunity gratefully, and grabbed her arm. “Let’s go get a room, alright?”

“Ugh...okay.”

(Byleth couldn’t help but notice how tightly she was squeezing him back.)

* * *

Byleth was hoping there’d be a sauna or a hot spring of some sort on the grounds of the inn, but they were out of luck. At the very least, there was a rather large fireplace in the room they got, complementary due to Byleth’s status as the archbishop. Bernadetta sat on the floor in front of it, shivering and looking utterly miserable due to the rain and an undoubtedly sour attitude. Byleth quickly lit the fireplace, filling the room with light and warmth, then sat next to his wife.

The storm raged on, and Bernadetta jolted every time it sounded particularly loud. Byleth hated seeing her so afraid, and was upset that he couldn’t do much to help her. Then again, she  _ had _ been trying to become more independent as of late, but that was only at his request...

Bernadetta looked up from the fireplace, face wet with rain and what might have been tears. She tightened her arms around herself, flustered. “Wh-why are you staring at me?”

“Was I? I didn’t mean to. Sorry.” Byleth smiled, almost too kindly.

“You’re teasing me again,” Bernadetta responded, flatly. “C’mon...”

“Sorry. You’re already having a rough time...”

“I’m not! I’m fine. We didn’t even have to come here.”

Ah, she had definitely caught onto his little white lie. Well, it technically wasn’t a lie—their horse had been a little spooked—but he hadn’t told the entire truth, either. Determined not to let her feel any worse about herself, he tried again. “We did. It would have been dangerous to ride the mount like that—”

“I know that’s not true. And even if it is, you still should have just left me at the monastery anyway!” Bernadetta’s voice was shaking from the cold, but Byleth could hear a cry coming on, too. She turned away from him, her chin in her hands. “Useless scaredy-cat Bernie. Can’t even s-sit through a thunderstorm without crying!”

Byleth sighed. It seemed lying to her wasn’t going to work; he’d just have to do damage control. “Bernadetta, it’s okay. Everyone’s afraid of something.”

“The problem isn’t that I’m afraid. It’s that I can’t even get over it on my own. You had to go out of the way to bring us here, just because I’m too whiny...”

Now, this, Byleth didn’t have to lie about. “That’s not true. You were doing your best to brave through it. There was a time where you would have immediately begged me to go home, or cry about how you missed being alone in your room...but you didn’t do that this time. You were sincerely trying to do it on your own, and I’m happy you’ve come such a long way. That’s why I didn’t mind helping you by bringing you here. You can’t get through  _ everything _ by yourself, and I’d never ask you to.”

Bernadetta’s face had already lit up by the time Byleth was halfway done speaking. He made sure to look her in the eyes as he spoke; he knew eye contact could make her nervous sometimes, but it was the best way he could think of to convey his sincerity. “You think I’ve...come a long way? You’re not just saying that to shut me up, are you?”

“I’d never try to shut you up. As much as it pains me to hear you talk down to yourself, I’m always here to listen—and I’m always here to help you when you need me.”

“...Always, huh?”

Byleth chuckled, careful not to be too derisive. “That’s what ‘til death do us part’ means, isn’t it?”

“Heh. I guess so.” That got Byleth a little smile. He took her hands in his; they were both cold and wet, but the contact warmed them up enough for it to not be entirely uncomfortable. “Let me know if you get tired of me, though. I won’t blame you.”

“I’m not sure such a thing is possible, so don’t even mention it. What I’m really getting tired of is this storm...”

As if Byleth had summoned it himself, the inn shook beneath the force of the storm. Bernadetta squeezed his hands and squealed, her bitten nails tearing at his skin. He didn’t make a sound, trying his best not to react at all. Once the rumbling died down, she let up on her grip, sighing. “You think  _ you’re _ tired of it? Imagine how it feels to be Bernie!”

Byleth really couldn’t imagine. He saw storms as a great inconvenience, especially when travelling, but he couldn’t imagine being as afraid as Bernadetta was. That was why he was really at a loss when it came to helping her get through it. What could he do, short of controlling the weather? He decided to be upfront. “I want to make this less awful for you, Bernadetta, I really do. But I’m not sure how to help. What do you usually do during storms?”

“Um...c-cry, usually,” Bernadetta admitted. Byleth frowned. “But I would cuddle with one of my stuffed animals, if I had one right now.”

That was too cute for Byleth to express with words. “Well, I’m not exactly a stuffed animal, but you could try me, if you’d like?”

Bernadetta pouted, as if she thought he were teasing her, but he kept his expression serious. Without a word, she moved forward, almost climbing into his lap. She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing as tight as she could; it didn’t hurt quite as much as her nails had, thankfully. He embraced her, doing his best to make her feel secure. Thunder struck, and Bernadetta tensed up again. She closed her eyes so hard that Byleth thought it might have been painful.

Bernadetta sat back once she’d calmed down again, eyes cast off to the side. “That wasn’t too bad, but...y-your body is kind of hard. Sorry.”

“Yes, I figured that’d be the case...”

“But you’re really warm, so that was nice,” Bernadetta added. Byleth found it funny that he was trying so hard to comfort her, but  _ she _ was still concerned about him possibly being upset that his solution hadn’t worked. 

As cute as that was, though, it did nothing to help her out. Byleth was starting to feel sort of powerless, watching his wife suffer through such anxiety while being able to do nothing about it. “I could go out to the village for a bit and see if I could find some wine. It might relax you.”

Bernadetta pointed at the window, probably gesturing to the rain bombarding it. “You can’t go back out there! It’s pouring! You’ll get sick, if you’re not going to already...b-besides, it’s a little late. I wouldn’t want to bother anyone...I’m already bothering  _ you, _ anyway. I think I’ve done enough bothering.”

Ah, that suggestion didn’t turn out well. Byleth tried once more. “Do you like lullabies? I could do my best to sing you one.”

“I really don’t want to be mean, but...your voice is, um...how do I say this? Sorry...”

“No, I get the point,” Byleth sighed. Bernadetta had quite the sweet voice, but singing to herself wouldn’t do much to solve her problem. Bernadetta dug her nails into her own palms when she heard another rumble, and Byleth groaned inwardly. “Maybe we should just get out of these wet clothes and get in bed, then?”

“There’s no way I could sleep through this. I used to skip lectures if it stormed the night before, because I’d be up all night...” Byleth couldn’t quite remember that far back—after all, Bernadetta skipped a  _ lot _ of lectures—but there was no reason for him to doubt her. “I’m sorry, Professor. You’re trying to help, and I’m just shooting every idea down...maybe I should just sit here and soak in my own tears.”

Byleth nearly laughed at her dramatics, but held back. “It’s not your fault, Bernadetta. I haven’t been making good suggestions, is all. I’d hate for you to sit through any of them and be anxious all the while. If you have any other ideas, though, I’d be glad to try them out.”

“Me? My ideas?!”

“Well, you know yourself better than anyone else, right? Tell me whatever you need, and I’ll do my best to accomplish it for you.” Bernadetta hummed in thought, pulling her knees to her chest and tucking her chin between them. There was nothing but contemplation on her face for a moment—and thankfully the thunder didn’t interrupt her—but her expression eventually twisted into what looked like sheer embarrassment. As kindly as he could, Byleth coaxed, “Did you think of something?”

“I did, but it’s sort of dumb,” Bernadetta said, twiddling her thumbs.

“It can’t be any worse than my ideas, can it? Let’s give it a try.”

“I guess it’d be helpful if you...gave Bernie a little distraction?”

Byleth looked at her face for a moment, trying to find some sort of cue. Neither of them were the best at initiating intimate moments, but Bernadetta certainly did it less often, and Byleth was having trouble reading her properly. Straightforward as ever, he asked, “You mean a physical distraction?”

“Y-yes,” Bernadetta squeaked. Then, her face growing red, she added, “Not like c-cuddling, or anything like that...um, more than that. Please. Ugh, this is so embarrassing! I ruined it...sorry...”

Byleth wasn’t sure how much sex would distract her, or even calm her down, but he also wasn’t in any place to deny her. Even when he had just gotten through being soaking wet, his body reacted quite properly to the thought of getting its fill of Bernadetta. Still, despite the quickly rising arousal in his body, he always had to be careful with her; she was rather small compared to him, not to mention easily startled. Keeping that in mind, he said, “You didn’t ruin anything. I’d be happy to, if you think that’ll really help...”

“I-I honestly don’t know what else to do, but you always make me feel better whenever I’m upset.” Bernadetta moved a little closer to Byleth as she said that, and Byleth wondered if it was subconscious. “And also...the fire was really nice, but I’m still kind of cold, s-so maybe you could warm me up?”

That sounded like a line straight out of one of her beloved romance novels. Despite maybe lacking some originality, hearing it from Bernadetta’s voice was unbelievably charming, and Byleth couldn’t resist the urge to kiss her when he heard it. Bernadetta squeaked in surprise, like she did almost every time that he kissed her, then relaxed in his grasp and placed her hands on his chest. She was right; the fire hadn’t completely warmed them up, and her touch felt nice on his cool torso. His undershirt was sticking to him, though, and the pressure from her hands did nothing to help.

Thankfully, Bernadetta had grown more intuitive during their time together, or maybe she just got lucky—either way, he was grateful when she peeled his shirt off of his chest and over his head. He was about to lean in and kiss her again when thunder struck, sounding as if it were right outside of the inn. It startled even the stone-faced Byleth, but he immediately recuperated, holding Bernadetta close to him for a bit of comfort. “It’s alright,” he said, doing his best to sound calming. “Just focus on me, alright?”

“Okay...” Byleth felt a sharp sensation in his chest, hearing the tremble in her voice—it must have been guilt. It was his fault they’d gotten into that situation, after all, and he felt obligated to do something to help her.

“Do you want to move to the bed?” 

“No. Here is fine. B-by the fire,” Bernadetta said. Byleth thought about teasing her, asking if she just couldn’t wait, but decided against it; he had a feeling she was in no mood for playful ribbing. Instead, he took the kiss he’d been intending to take a few moments before, and she let him. Her lips were shaking against his, either with desire or with nervousness. He intended to relieve her of both.

The carpeted rug by the fire was thick and cushy enough for him to lay her down without worrying that she’d be uncomfortable. What really looked uncomfortable was the wet clothes on her skin, including his heavy coat, so he took them off, massaging her arms and thighs and waist as he went. Bernadetta busied herself with his trousers, although she fumbled the button between her fingers when the storm made its presence known with a crash. Still, her reaction seemed less severe than before.

After he kicked his pants off, Bernadetta went to take off his briefs, but he took her hand. “Let me take care of you a bit, first,” he said.

“You don’t have to...”

Oh, but he wanted to. Part of him did desire to see Bernadetta be more independent, mostly for her sake, but he loved taking care of her just the same, and he planned on reminding her of that. He decided to be as active as he could with her, wanting to give her a proper distraction. His mouth latched onto her nipple at the same time his fingers parted her legs, and she arched into him. Bernadetta was already wet, and Byleth wondered when she’d first started getting turned on. Was it just then, as he was undressing her? Or maybe it’d started when he held her? Maybe even earlier, when she gripped him from behind while they were riding the mount?

Either way, the slick on his fingers was a sign that this particular intervention was working. Bernadetta whined as soon as his hands touched her, and that must have been plenty of distraction from the storm. In fact, he slipped two fingers inside of her at the same time as a thunderbolt struck, and she seemed to tremble from pleasure rather than fear; she might not have even noticed it. Byleth didn’t ask, though, still circling his tongue around the tip of her breast. He only lifted his head when Bernadetta pulled his hair, coaxing him upwards for another kiss.

Byleth took that as a sign that she wanted more, and pumped his fingers faster. Just feeling the heat and wetness of her around his fingers made him harder in his underwear, imagining what it’d feel like around his cock, but his focus was still on Bernadetta. Her reactions made him more excited, too, though; Bernadetta bit down on his lip, not enough to be painful, then moaned into his mouth. 

Byleth pulled away, taking his fingers out of her too. He loved the taste of her lips—with a lingering hint of sweetness from a hard candy she’d eaten earlier—but that only made him crave more. As he kissed his way down her torso, making his way to the apex of her legs, Bernadetta put her hand on his head again.

“W-wait! I want...” Byleth paused, waiting for her to finish. He, of course, had a very good idea of what she was going to ask him for next, but...he liked hearing her ask for it, really. After taking a moment to gather herself, Bernadetta finally said, “I’m ready. For all of it. P-please?”

“You don’t have to beg,” Byleth said, unable to resist teasing her.

“That wasn’t begging at all! Was it...? It might have been,” Bernadetta fretted. “But I...really like this so far. I feel better already, I think...”

“I believe the storm is calming down a bit, too.” He hadn’t been paying  _ too _ much attention to it, being so caught up in Bernadetta, but the storm didn’t sound like it was hovering over the village like it had before.

“Even if it is, we should keep going...just in case!”

Byleth chuckled, not exactly sure who Bernadetta was trying to convince. To her credit, she still seemed a bit anxious, but that might have just been anticipation. “Of course. Are you sure right here is fine?”

“Yeah, it’s...it’s fine, so...please?”

Now,  _ that _ was definitely begging. Byleth spared her the inconvenience of taking off his briefs, since her hands still might have been shaky, and she seemed very eager to get on with the show. He was just as eager, really; this gave him the chance to both comfort Bernadetta and pleasure her, which just so happened to be two of his favorite activities. The very thought of it even made him more physically aroused, his erection throbbing in his palm as he stroked himself.

Bernadetta reached between them and took it in her own hand, guiding him to her entrance. The grip of her hand gave way to the slight resistance of her hole, but he pushed past it, oh-so carefully. Bernadetta still groaned loudly, surely loud enough for their neighbors to hear over the dying storm. Byleth didn't care. He was wrapped up in her in a way that was far beyond physical, although he couldn't deny how good she felt...

Byleth tempered himself, pushing all the way in but still taking his time. Bernadetta’s legs, although shaking, managed to lift and wrap around his hips. He held the back of one of them, then planted his other hand in the plush carpet next to her head. Byleth looked down at her, a beautiful blushing mess.

Before he could even ask, she said, “It’s good, it’s—it’s good. Keep going.”

The thunder was merely background noise at that point. That time, he was sure Bernadetta hadn’t heard it, because she cried out his name when he pulled back, and it surely drowned out the sound of the storm. She only got louder when he moved back in, slightly faster than the first thrust. He loved how loud she was, he loved knowing what he did to her. Bernadetta had once remarked that she sometimes wondered if she was pleasing him as much as he pleased her, but little did she know that pleasing her was pleasure all in itself.

Bernadetta began to move about beneath him, and so he took her hips in his hands to feel her in his grasp. That only reminded him how small she was compared to him, a tight body being carved out by his length. Bernadetta always took him perfectly, gripping him like a warm embrace while still being slick enough for him to fuck her properly. Her juices were coating his dick, then sliding down his balls and onto the carpet. Her round butt was glistening with it, too, and he so badly desired to grope her there, too, but that required a change in position, and he didn't want to stop thrusting into her for even a moment.

Byleth was always fighting with his desire for her when he got to watch her face like that. Bernadetta was so fragile, but she almost seemed to be begging him to do as he pleased with her. She might have been begging for it, if she were more in control of her words, but she was being rendered speechless with each thrust. Byleth could only use her body as an indicator of her desire, and the pulsing of her walls said quite enough.

He still felt compelled to speak to her, though, both to comfort her and excite both of them even more. Not slowing up for even a second, Byleth cupped her cheek, amused to feel that she was warm, and slightly sweaty. “Is it good, Bernie? You alright?”

Bernadetta nodded into his palm, smiling at the nickname. He hardly used it, but found that it tended to be very effective when they were making love. Bernadetta put her hand over his, smiling blissfully. “It’s—perfect,” she said, with a sudden hitch of breath between words. 

Her voice was quite pretty when she was falling apart like that, Byleth thought, so he kept talking, even though he was quite breathless himself. "Can I go a little faster? Will you be alright?"

"Yeah," Bernadetta sighed, then added, "please?"

Byleth always had trouble denying her, and so he hastened his pace, thrusting through the growing heat in his body. The goal was no longer to distract Bernadetta from the storm; it was to bring her off like always, to give her the love that Byleth knew she desperately needed and rightfully deserved. That wasn’t hard to do, though. Byleth had had little experience with sex before he met Bernadetta, but she still sang sweetly for him all the same. In his mind, that only spoke to a connection between them, a bond so strong and natural that it far outweighed experience.

With the lack of experience came a difficulty in lasting for the both of them, though. Byleth didn’t mind that they didn’t go for long, because it often felt like hours to him, being surrounded by her. She felt so much bigger, too, her small stature becoming overwhelming when paired with her echoing whines and wails and the warmth of her cunt around him. Her hands still felt small when they gripped his upper arms, though...

Byleth changed his mind, moving for a quick change of position. He easily picked her up, then sat back, holding her in his lap. She made a surprised sound, and they both laughed at it. “I’ve always liked how strong you are,” she said, looking up at him.  _ All the better to protect you. _

Neither of them were smiling or giggling all that much once he started fucking her again, though; she had closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest, and he was biting his lip. Even then, he couldn’t help the few groans that escaped him, far quieter in volume compared to her but still boisterous. 

Bernadetta was in his lap, but wasn’t really riding him. He felt her hips wiggle in his grasp, but she couldn’t do much more than that, letting him fuck her senseless. He had long since abandoned any hope of being gentle, since they both seemed to like it rough. Both of their thighs were wet, then, and the noises of their skin meeting only became louder. The change in position seemed to be perfect for her, as it didn’t take long for her to start crying his name into his chest again. The tightening of her walls created even more friction, and he was cumming right after her, letting out a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. His own cum was making her passage even hotter, taking every drop of his seed with eagerness.

Her orgasm was always more drawn out than his. She was still struggling to catch her breath by the time he had fully emptied himself inside of her. Byleth held the back of her head to his chest, feeling none of the chill that he’d felt before they started; in fact, he felt almost a little overheated, sitting by the fire and having her so close. He didn’t complain, though, waiting until she had settled before he said or did anything.

When Bernadetta lifted her head, eyes wet with tears of pleasure, Byleth said, “I think the storm’s over.”

“H-huh? Really?” Bernadetta turned around, looking out of the window. The rain hadn’t stopped, but it had thinned out considerably, and there wasn’t even a hint of distant thunder. “Wow...what a relief. Maybe I can actually sleep now. I’m pretty worn out...”

“We ought to get to bed so we can head back early tomorrow. I’m sure everyone at the monastery is worried,” Byleth agreed. He pulled out of her, fully flaccid by then, then lifted her with shaking arms and took her to the bed. They were (mostly) dry by then, so the sheets felt comfortable and pleasantly cool against their skin. “I hope you’re feeling better.”

Bernadetta paused to yawn, then said, “Yeah! A lot better. Th-thank you, Professor...Byleth.”

Bernadetta still snuggled up to him like she did when she was afraid—even if he wasn’t quite a teddy bear. Despite the warmth almost being uncomfortable, Byleth couldn’t push her away. Even if they both wanted her to be more independent...

He’d let her lean on him, this time.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to [follow me on Twitter!](https://twitter.com/cathrheas)


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